The Reading Workshop

So you get a first draft of a poem and it seems pretty good.  Now what?  Is it ready to publish?  Everything is spelled right.  It makes...

Cut out all those words.  This is poetry so you don't need them.  In fact, if the word doesn't do something to clarify meaning, ...

  Image from @thebradmontague

In Reading Workshop I recently finished the read aloud of Wendelin Van Draanen's book, Swear to Howdy. Students had to write a poem ba...

I was walking across the lawn. It was dark and I was afraid. I heard a noise. Loading... You can see responses HERE ...

Is your poetry alive?  Or does it just lay there squashed and ragged, like a mushy apple smashed on the road?  Maybe it needs a little ...

Taken from the famous basketball movie, Coach Carter , this is an excellent example of Spoken Poetry and the power of poems. ...

In Reading Workshop we have been studying figurative language this week. For today, take this starter poem and see what you can do. You c...

Reading Workshop students, here is a free verse poem prompt. Let your imagination go!

Write a free verse poems. No rhyming allowed.

Recently in Reading Workshop we have been discussing the meaning of the lyrics in the song The Monster by Eminem. In this song, he relate...

   In Reading Workshop we are celebrating National Poetry Month. Students are reading and writing poems. Many will be shared on their bl...

Weird Students Mismatched Socks Riding Vader (My Horse) I Ate Too Much Chocolate Cheesy Biscuits and Garlic Breath Hard Workers Eli...

I had this conversation about poetry with a student: Student:   I have trouble with what to write. Me: Really? Student: Yeah, I don...

Poems are never finished. Eventually though, we just stop working on them. Naomi Shihab Nye  said: If a teacher told me to revise,...

The Reading Workshop Poetry Rubric Component 4/A 3/B 2/ C 1/D Rhythm, Form Structure, Organization ...

Take a piece of advise from Lee Bennet Hopkins in his poem titled, Dear Poet . Take one of your drafts, Reading Workshop students, copy i...

Reading Workshop students, write an inspired by poem about yourself. Please take note of the pattern of three line stanzas with the first ...